Escaped inmate believed hiding in Regina area
After escaping from the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre (RPCC) on Tuesday afternoon, Ronald Turner is believed to be in the Regina area, and residents are asked to call 911 if they see him.
“My understanding is he was pursued by the K9 unit, as well as our staff,” said Drew Wilby, executive director of the communications branch of the Ministry of Justice. “They lost touch with him and lost the scent through the dog. We would anticipate he has not left very far. Obviously, he could be mobile and have resources to him to leave the area, but we do believe he is in the Regina area.”
Described as average height, with green eyes and brown hair, he was last seen wearing a white RPCC Tshirt and grey sweat pants.
Turner was serving time as a result of drug charges, and with a nonviolent record, he is not believed to be a risk to the public.
“He is in for some drug charges, trafficking and possession, as well as a break and enter charge and some administration charges in terms of breaching conditions,” Wilby said. “Whenever an inmate comes into one of our facilities, we do a full assessment on them to determine their risk in the facility, or the risk present to the public if they are released.”
Turner was remanded in April of this year, and sentenced in June. He was due to be released in January 2018.
This is not the first escape from the RPCC. Six inmates escaped in 2008, while three inmates escaped between 2011 and 2016.
Following this most recent escape, inmates were put in lockdown, but are now back to regular programming.
“When anything like this happens, our primary focus is the safety and security of our staff and inmates,” Wilby said. “This presents a significant security risk knowing an inmate is at large, so we do a lockdown of the facility. Once things are safe and secure, we release the facility to regular programming.”
The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the RCMP to find Turner and return him to the facility. Wilby also stated that the Regina Police Service (RPS) will be contacted.
“If someone does escape, which does not happen often, we will work with the police agency in jurisdiction,” Wilby said. “In this case it is the RCMP. It may be that if the individual has ties to Regina, we will be in contact with RPS.”
Anyone who believes they have seen Turner is asked to call 911.